Did NeNe Make It on the 'RHOA' Trip?

There was one big question going into the RHOA Philippines venture: will NeNe skip the Real Housewives of Atlanta trip? In a word, yuuuuup. NeNe claimed that it was her blood clot issue from a few years ago that gave her the excuse to officially not go on the trip. Because judging from how the ladies reacted to Kim Zolciak bailing a few seasons ago, it's good that NeNe came with an excuse in hand, or she might find herself booted.

But there's also her part in Cinderella, which was used as the more demonstrable reason why she could not attend. And Bravo knew that it needed to get her absence out of the way as soon as possible in order to get it out of the way so we could get to the good stuff. There was also a little moment between NeNe and Gregg where NeNe saw the marquee on Broadway featuring her name. Pretty insane that NeNe has already achieved what every NYU Tisch student hopes for in less than 10 years of being a reality star.

Anyway, we got to see her meet with the director of the play. And we got to see him school her on performing, and see NeNe in another light — collaborate, open, and willing to take criticism. But there's more to this trip than just the fact that NeNe didn't make it there. So far, even though it's not over yet, the trip is not missing her whatsoever.

Forcing Them Away From Meat

Sending these ladies to vegan, booze-free retreat was not going to be an easy task. But the ladies did manage to fit in a trip to McDonalds before they checked in.

There Was No Fighting Over Rooms

Incredibly, Claudia did show some good instincts as the "host" of the trip, immediately declaring that Phaedra should get the biggest room. It worked as both an olive branch between the two "groups" of friends, and also went a long way to make Phaedra feel like a part of the group again.

We Got To See A Lot of No-Makeup Makeup

I enjoyed seeing every lady's version of what a spiritual retreat look is like. Phaedra was done up to the nines on the face and hair, but went for a relaxed tank top. Claudia looks amazing without the huge fake eyelashes and full face of pain. Kandi has the shiniest hair, even in the humidity — whether that grows out of her head or not, I'm impressed.

And Then Everything Went Horribly Wrong

These ladies are adults, but when it comes to gathering them all together, they don't display much more maturity than middle schoolers. Jeez, all it took was one random comment about giggling to send things into a potential disaster. We'll see in Part Two.

Images: Giphy (3)